Black vs. Brown continue their ‘Pink‘ net rivalry

By Ron Brocato, Sports

Jesuit and Holy Cross football teams will meet for a landmark 100th year on Oct. 28. Although that rivalry may be the longest continuous confrontation among Louisiana high schools, there is another that is just as historically competitive on the volleyball court.

It’s the annual District 7-I showdown that happens twice in the month of October between Mount Carmel Academy and St. Mary’s Dominican.

It’s the Black of Dominican vs. the Brown of Mount Carmel. And, although they wear pink uniforms to recognize National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, their  matches are more synonymous with the colors black and blue.

There is unquestionably no other rivalry in any LHSAA-sanctioned sport for girls as anticipated as this one.

When these two meet, the noise level literally shakes the rafters. Mount Carmel added additional sound absorbing pads to the walls of its field house. At Dominican, the din is somewhat suppressed by the second-level running track. At any rate, the joints jump to the back-and-forth banter of the opposing student bodies and the spontaneous roars that emanate on every point scored.

And the pomp will have begun on Oct. 12 when the two Division I powers first meet at Mount Carmel. Then, they’ll do it again at Dominican on Oct. 26.

What’s at stake is the No. 1 seed, currently held by 23-1 Dominican. That’s added incentive for No. 2 Mount Carmel, who entered with a 26-6 record. The winner could very well enter the LHSAA State Championship Tournament on Nov. 10-12 as the D-I team to beat.

Unfortunately, fans and family of the two will have to venture to the Lafayette Cajun Dome to watch the five divisions play. Damage by Hurricane Ida to the roof of the tournament’s previous home, the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, caused the move west.

For the past eight years, Dominican and MCA have dominated the tournament’s highest division. As the top seed in 2020 and 2021, coach Jessica Chatellier’s Dominican team defeated St. Joseph’s Academy for the state championship.

In her 16th season on the Dominican bench, Chatellier has accrued 455 wins and has led her teams through 16 playoff appearances and is the reigning division Coach of the Year after her squad’s repeat.

Prior to that two-year period, coach April Hagadone’s Cubs had won six consecutive D-I titles between 2014 and 2019. Over the past 16 state tournaments, Mount Carmel has claimed nine state championships and has eliminated Dominican in 2012, 2014 and 2018 in earlier rounds. The Cubs’ last title to date was a three-game sweep of Dominican in the 2019 championship match.

Hagadone’s head coaching tenure, which began in 2007, reflects 596 victories and eight state crowns. She’s a recent inductee into the St. Bernard Sports Hall of Fame.

As the two cast their eyes upon one another, Dominican is on a seven-game win streak, which included a five-game win over reigning Division IV titleist Country Day and other key victories over highly regarded Teurlings Catholic, Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Hannan, Assumption, St. Amant and Notre Dame (all former state champions in their respective classes).

Dominican’s lone defeat was at the hands of Division II runner-up St. Thomas More at a tournament in Baton Rouge.

Mount Carmel’s losses were against Hannan twice and St. Joseph’s Academy. The Cubs also lost two out-of-state matches that don’t count against their record or power ranking. Victories have come against Pope John Paul II, Notre Dame, Sacred Heart, Assumption, Teurlings, Country Day and against Hannan in a third meeting.

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